ITAB is a building ITO created by New Zealand Certified Builders to equip apprentices with the training and experience they need to become excellent builders. Without a doubt, ITAB’s most famous graduate is Olympic athlete, world champ shotputter and fully qualifed builder, Tom Walsh. With Tom on board as a brand ambassador, ITAB asked us to create an ad campaign that would encourage employers to choose ITAB as a training provider over its large industry competitor BCITO.

Our first job was to find a strong link between what ITAB offers and what Tom Walsh represents. This would allow us to keep the messaging simple and avoid the usual shotput puns or a clichéd testimonial-style approach. The link we found was in the training. Get the training right, and you set yourself up for a top result.

With a simple, effective concept in place, we put a photo brief together and hit the building site with Tom. The resulting ad is not only eye-catching and memorable, but perfectly geared towards its industry audience. The response has been fantastic – with ITAB enjoying a boost in enrolments, especially in the smaller regions; and increased activity and interest online, including a 20% increase in Facebook followers.